Many devices have been proposed for sharpening knives. One type of such device, suitable for both professional and home use, includes a structure through and across which a knife may be drawn, the device then acting on the cutting edge of the device to enhance the sharpness of that edge. Such sharpeners, when not secured to some external support, must be held in place on a horizontal support such as a table by one hand of the user, the other hand of the user manipulating the knife. The proximity of the knife, as it is drawn through the sharpening device, to the user's hand engaged in holding the device stationary on a support surface presents significant danger of injury to that hand if the knife is not manipulated in an entirely correct fashion, and hence it is highly desirable to provide the device with some means for protecting the user's holding hand.
One particularly effective sharpening device is that shown in the inventor's prior U.S. Pat. No. 6,769,327 of Aug. 3, 2004 entitled “Knife and Blade Sharpener”. The knife sharpener there disclosed has sets of overlapping resiliently flexible fingers or strips which form opposed abrasive sharpening faces operable to engage the cutting edge of the knife blade. Sharpeners of that type have proved to be exceptionally effective, but those resiliently flexible fingers, if exposed to the vicissitudes of handling and storage, are susceptible to physical damage or distortion. In addition, the marketplace places a high value on compactness for easy handling and storage. Also, since the fingers are abrasive the environment should be shielded from possible damage from the fingers themselves. Moreover, it has been found that the conventional hand-guard, usually only co-extensive with the abrasive finger assembly, does not provide adequate protection to the user's hand, particularly the thumb-portion of that hand.